1. Field
The described embodiments relate to techniques for communicating information in a wireless network. In particular, the described embodiments relate to techniques for providing feedback about communication in one band of frequencies through a different band of frequencies.
2. Related Art
Many electronic devices are capable of wirelessly communicating with other electronic devices. For example, these electronic devices can include a networking subsystem that implements a network interface for: a cellular network (UMTS, LTE, etc.), a wireless local area network (e.g., a wireless network such as described in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard or Bluetooth™ from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group of Kirkland, Wash.), and/or another type of wireless network.
Because of the increasing popularity of wireless communication, existing bands of frequencies (or frequency bands) that are used for communication are becoming crowded. This results in conflicts and collisions, which can degrade throughput and, more generally, communication performance. To address this problem, communication protocols that use an additional band of frequencies have been proposed. For example, communication protocols compatible with IEEE 802.11 standards (such as IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ac) typically communicate information using channels in bands of frequencies around 2.4 or 5 GHz. Recently, communication using a band of frequencies around 60 GHz has been proposed (e.g., in IEEE 802.11ad).
However, networking subsystems based on the IEEE 802.11 standards typically have high power consumption. Because power amplifiers that are used to transmit signals are less efficient at 60 GHz, the power consumption associated with IEEE 802.11ad is expected to be even higher. This additional power consumption may be a challenge in portable electronic devices (such as cellular telephones) in which battery life is already a concern and, thus, may restrict use of the additional band of frequencies.